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JUNE

June 5th, 2026 — 6 Nights in Bangkok (and the world’s my oyster?) + 5 in Hong Kong

I had a wonderful 2 week trip to Hong Kong & Bangkok!! They are both wonderful cities, and it was a beautiful time. You can view the photos on my Facebook!

I apologize for the delay in writing this; jet lag really has made it hard to write, and I’ve also been quite busy. But just like Heinz Ketchup, the best things come to those who wait!

SUMMER IN THE CITY

Before I get into the recap, I realize that I haven’t actually sent an update in all of 2026. I apologize; I’ve been taking it a bit easier after the last few years…

Love Quirks is now available for licensing through a new licensing house, so I don’t have to take as active a role in garnering new productions: https://tlhshows.com/musicals/comedy/love-quirks/

“Malka” will eventually be available for streaming again; we are currently weighing our options, as we also work on a plan to raise funding for the feature version, which has been written and features 12 songs!

Agatha Christie’s The Secret Adversary will be returning with a complete, improved revision, hopefully in 2027.

Additionally, I have a new short film musical in the works that we hope to film later this year, or early next year. It features 3 new songs, and is a comedy this time!

Also, my editor Mel and I are hard at work on two more crossword puzzle books for our 1980s book publisher, which will be released in late October: a Gen X Nostalgia and Boomer Nostalgia books.

Finally, my cabaret series hits 950 next week, and we are doing Richard Rodgers Tribute Cabarets to celebrate.

FYI, I’ve decided to move the 1000th celebration to March or April 2027, due to fear of the winter, and it will also be closer to the 20th anniversary. I will be doing a huge concert on a Saturday afternoon to optimize audience attendance… hopefully with some Broadway alumni. I also intend to record a new album with the best of my cabaret songs that aren’t in LQ at some point, with some Broadway performers. Not sure if I will do that this year or next…

Like I said, I’m taking it easy in 2026!

DAY ZERO: WEDNESDAY, MAY 15th, JFK

I took an afternoon flight from JFK for 16 hours. With the 12 hour time difference, I arrived 28 hours later.

Note: with a 12 hour time change, I didn’t even have to change my watch!

DAY ONE: THURSDAY, MAY 14th, HONG KONG

I arrived in Hong Kong around 7PM. It was actually super easy to get through immigration in HK, which I always appreciate.

The main reason I went to visit Hong Kong was to see my friend Kevin, whom lived on my hall at MIT. He had been in NYC in 2017, and I also had visited him in 2011 in Shanghai (as some of you will remember). He got a great new job in HK, and when he asked if I wanted to visit, I jumped at the chance.

From the airport, there is an express train that goes right into the Central Station in HK, where I transferred to the subway, which is for some reasons known as the MRT (AKA Laurence Tureaud?) to the Taikoo stop to meet Kevin for dinner.

I was incredibly tired, so we went to a local diner, which is so exciting because I love diners. Since Kevin is very stressed at his job, and his apartment is relatively small, he was kind enough to get me a fancy hotel for these 4 nights, which is very generous of him and completely appreciated… and probably kept us from killing each other! (And it’s good we didn’t because the fees for crime in Hong Kong are severe littering is like $3000 — though that’s HK dollars, so $375 here… dividing by 8 became second natural, till I had to divide by 32…)

DAY TWO: FRIDAY, MAY 15th, HONG KONG

Kevin had to work Friday, so after sleeping an incredible amount, I set out to see all of the sights. And I actually did see all the sights because Hong Kong doesn’t have quite that much to do…

First I took the bus to the center of town. I found HK public transportation extremely easy to navigate. All of the trains and buses had tap to pay, so I could just use my credit card to board.

Incidentally, after living in London for 4 weeks, I have officially joined the modern age when it comes to travel. I invested $12 in an eSIM, which allowed me to have a second line on my phone with just data. I got 5GB for 2 weeks, and used 4.9 so I estimated very well. Having a phone to navigate makes things incredibly easy. I used to have to get paper maps, and I would learn the city much better with paper maps, but my hotel didn’t even have one anymore! I finally learned that the arrow on Google Maps works as a compass, and you can use that to make sure you are going the right direction. Google wasn’t always right in China or Thailand, but it was pretty close. And I also got a new foreign fee free credit card from Bilt Rewards, whom my management company has been using for rent payment for about a year. At first, I was annoyed that they switched to yet another way to collect rent, but Bilt has great rewards, and I was pre-approved for the credit card. It’s a Mastercard, and has no annual fee… and as I said, no foreign fees. Using my Visa (which I did have to use 3 times due to the fact that Mastercard couldn’t send me an SMS text to verify my purchases) I had a $1 fee each time. So anyway, eSIM + no foreign fee credit card == essential for modern travel!

I was going up to Victoria Peak, and I decided it might be fun to walk, since I was really not pressed for time, and could always use exercise. On my way, I passed St. John’s Cathedral and the Hong Kong Zoological & Botanical Gardens. I absolutely love zoos, and this one was free, so how could I not take a detour! See, look at me being spontaneous!

The zoo had a lot of primates, birds and a really cute otter. There were a few really nice gardens, as well.

After my brief hiatus at the zoo, I started the arduous trek up, up and more up towards the peak. Occasionally, it was hard to navigate because Google thought there was a sidewalk, and there wasn’t always one, but I eventually figured out what to do. I took some scenic photos on the way up, which is good because by the time I got to the peak, it was pouring, foggy, and there was zero visibility! Oy! Apparently on a clear day (you can see forever), you can see a panoramic view of the whole city. On the day I went, bupkis!

However, Peak Tower has some fun things to do, cheap souvenirs and food, including a Bubba Gump Shrimp, which I was not expecting…. And a lot of spaces to take cute selfies. Across the plaza, there’s also a Galleria mall, which had many floors and many stores. Since my umbrella chose to completely break, I got a $19 (USD) umbrella at 7-11, which is cute, tiny, and still functional even after the amount of rain I had on my trip.

Not feeling like walking down 90 minutes in the rain, I splurged on the Peak Tramway to get back down… and as soon as I got back down, it stopped raining as hard. Or maybe it was just raining so hard up in the altitude of the peak?

Anyway, my next stop was Art Lane, which was about 40 minute walk, so I ended up walking down Hollywood Road, which was really arty itself. There were murals, and there was a bunch of mini cat sculptures lining the shopping street, and I got photos with all of them!

I also passed Man Mo Temple, so I took a bit of a pause to check that out. It was the first of many Buddhist temples I stopped by in this fortnight… I also stopped by Cat Alley (how could I not?) and found some more souvenirs at little shops.

Art Lane was a lane of really great murals, including a big one of Bruce Lee. Very worth stopping by!

Next up was the Avenue of Stars by the river, including the Bruce Lee Statue. I had a little trouble figuring out how to get there given there were various ways to get over or under the larger highway like streets, and Google gets a bit confusing where there are different heights to paths… however, I found it, and took a selfie with the Bruce Lee statue. The Avenue of Stars was lining the river and had plaques for a lot of Chinese movie stars I hadn’t heard of. Clearly Bruce Lee is their favorite one, which is why he has an actual statue…

I sat by the water enjoying the few in the light rain for a bit, and then I started walking down and thinking maybe I wanted to take a quick boat ride on it. And at that point, a woman promoting a harbour tour appeared. So I said sure, and then went on an hour trip up and down.

After that, I went to the M+ Museum which is open late on Fridays. On the way, I saw an advertisement for the Cabaret Festival in June; apparently Patti LuPone will be in Hong Kong this week! Anyway, M+ is a modern art museum which had, you guessed it, a lot of modern art… There was basically one giant floor with galleries around the perimeter. It was actually fairly large and took me about 90 minutes to peruse at a leisurely pace. One of the more interesting exhibits was about this cubicle living space a Japanese architect designed. Also, in that room there was a video about the Landfill Harmonic, which built instruments out of trash. There was a few rooms with Lee Bul’s interactive art that was kind of fun.

When I finished the museum, I took a quick stroll to the waterside to admire the lit skyline, passing a few music videos of TikTok dances being recorded. Then, I met up with Kevin after his work day for a meal at Chun Hen, his favorite Vietnamese restaurant before exhaustedly heading back to the hotel to sleep.

DAY THREE: SATURDAY, MAY 16th, LANTAU ISLAND

I slept in a bit to help compensate for jet leg, and then I headed out to Lantau Island to go see the Big Buddha, which is one of the larger Buddas in the world. When I got off the subway to take the Ngong Ping 360 cable car from the end of the island to the Buddha village, I was devastated to learn it was closed for maintenance for 2 weeks… something Google didn’t know! Given China’s enmity towards Google, it should not be surprising that Google was quite fallible in Hong Kong. I was directed to take the bus, which was at least cheaper. Unfortunately, this was one of 3 times, I encountered a place that would not take my credit card! Thankfully I have quite a big mouth, so I was trying to figure out what to do quite loudly, and a kind woman gave me cash for the bus (which was less than $3 USD). Having a big mouth pays off sometimes! I actually ended up sitting on the bus with a Hong Kong native who was in college, and had spent a semester in Madrid, but his dream was to come to America. So, he chose to sit with me, and we had pleasant conversation for the 45 minute bus ride.

The bus let us off at the Ngong Ping Village, which is a strip of food and souvenir shops by the Buddha. Obviously, I had to go to the Buddha first, climbing the 268 steps to the top! (I averaged 28K steps/day so I came back 10 pounds lighter, which was a nice surprise!) I mean, it’s really just a big Buddha, but there were plenty of photo opportunities and sculptures around the area. Next, I went to the Po Lin Monastery and the Grand Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas… I didn’t count, but my estimate is there were far fewer than 10K.

At this point, it started to rain, so I headed back to the village. I went to the information center to see if I could find an ATM for cash for the bus, but they don’t have one on the island. I was told to get the Octopus for Tourists app on my phone, since the Octopus card is taken more than a Mastercard. I had to put $100HK (about $20) on the card, and I couldn’t get my Mastercard without fee to work, so I ended up with an extra $1 fee using my Visa. However, at the end of the trip, I was able to get a refund on both my deposit and the minimal amount left…

I ended up getting a kitschy souvenir — a mini Victoria Harbour that lights up for like $12 (USD). I probably didn’t need to get it, but it’s okay. It’s by my hockey Miss Piggy that I got in that antique store in Michigan 2 years ago. Anyway, I ended up eating at the Mountain Cafe, and even though I was in China, I couldn’t pass up some cheap spaghetti bolognese.

It actually only took me about an hour and a half to get back to my hotel. Kevin wasn’t ready for dinner yet, so I just chilled for a bit. When he was done with his work (on a Saturday, poor thing), we went to the best noodles in Hong Kong — the Michelin nominated restaurant Sister Wah. The beef noodles were delicious, and I also ordered a plate of veggies! After that, we went next door to Heartwarming which was Sesame ice cream. Very yum.

Finally, we strolled back towards my hotel (and his apartment which was 10 minutes from there) lingering for a bit at the Happiness Diner where there was a live singer finishing up their set, and a very active audience swaying to the tunes to end the night.

DAY FOUR: SUNDAY, MAY 17th, MACAU

Due to my lingering jet lag, I ended up waking up earlier than Kevin on Sunday (around 9am) so I went to the East Coast Boardwalk, which is a wonderful walkway that goes pretty much in parallel to the blue subway line for quite some time on Victoria Harbour. It was raining off and on, but a lot of the walkway is under a highway so there was some coverage. I listened to a podcast as I leisurely walked down and back for 2 hours, taking a few pauses to sit and watch the water. Afterwards, on my way to Kevin’s, I saw the only live cat I would see in Hong Kong; he was on a leash and domesticated. I don’t think they like strays in HK!

Anyway, Kevin was not ready yet, so I got a croissant and had to use my Octopus app (the rest of the $ I used on the subway) because they had a credit card minimum. Then I went to the Taikoo mall, where I decided to get a new mini-backpack because the old one I got in Japan for $4 was fraying and had a hole in the front. Thankfully, I found a suitable and fashionable sack for only $5!

One thing I found interesting about this mall was that some of the stores kind of bled into each other. There were sections where they didn’t have border walls, and you were in the bookstore then you were all of a sudden in a grocery store. Very odd design. I was hungry, so I stopped for lunch at Super Sandwiches (which matches my bowling name Super Seth!) and had the salad deal… 4 salads for only $8! What a great deal! All in all, I think the food in HK was healthier, yummier… and cheaper than in NYC.

When Kevin was done working (on a Sunday, poor thing), we headed out to the Macao ferry, which was in a different mall. We took the ferry over to Macau because I wanted to check off another Chinese territory! The ferry ride was relaxing, but unfortunately, it started pouring when we were halfway walking towards the center of old town. Thus, we gave up, and ended up going into the Wynn Casino, and had a most scrumptious dinner, which was the most expensive one I had, but still came to about $25 USD each. I had something with duck, and it was definitely all it was quacked up to be!

We headed over the MGM Casino thinking we might play a few rounds of blackjacks, but the table minimums were draconian, so instead we watched 2 guys played, and vicariously played through them. Basically, we would’ve made the same exact choices they did, so we felt vindicated in our decision not to actually gamble when we saw how quickly they lost hundreds of dollars!

Happily, it turned out the MGM Hotel had a free bus that shuttled people back to the ferry, so we didn’t have to walk back in the rain. After the ferry, it was a quick subway ride back to the hotel.

DAY FIVE: MONDAY, MAY 18th, FLYING/BANGKOK

I had no issues getting to the airport or out of Hong Kong, but boy did I have issues getting into Thailand! Apparently you need to fill out a quick e-Visa form online to enter, something I think was added after I googled to make sure I didn’t have to do anything like that. And the airline didn’t tell me, and they didn’t tell me on the airplane, and they didn’t tell me when I got off the plane. So, I preceded to immigration, waited on line, and when I got to the front was told I was missing a form, and she didn’t tell me where to go besides go further down the hall. So I went down the hall, and came to another immigration checkpoint, thinking maybe the first one was only for Thai nationals. I waited on line awhile again, got to the person, and was told again – after they finger printed me a second time – that I needed some form and to go down the hall. The Bangkok airport is completely frenzied, hardly anyone speaks English, and finally I figured out they were saying I needed this eVisa when I saw a little area with a QR code mentioning it. So, then I had to use a QR code – barf – and fill out this form on my phone like a millennial! Terrible. And all the information I needed for it was also in my phone, which is 4 years old and on life support – so it took me awhile, and I didn’t even know which part of the address I was staying in was supposed to go in which part because even though Bangkok was the city, they have districts and areas, etc, I don’t know! I finally just put things randomly in places, then copy/pasted the full address in the comment section. And then, on my way back to the big queue, I dropped my passport, and thankfully someone came after me, because that would’ve been a really bad thing to lose! My third time on the line was the worst. There was no rhyme or reason to these lines – no one regulating – I picked what looked like a short line, but it turned out the guy was taking forever to let anyone in, and then I eventually jumped ship to a longer line that went faster. But thankfully after submitting the eVisa, I was cleared (after they took my fingerprints for the third time).

The good news is after that, things were fine. I took the AirPort train, and it allowed me to tap on with my credit card (but not through my iPhone, only with the actual card?) and then I had to transfer to the MRT subway (blue line as in HK!). I was starving at that point, so I stopped to get some fried chicken at a stand in between the stations. And then I proceeded to eat on the train, only to see a woman glaring at me, and then I saw the sign that said no food on the train. Oops! Sorry, random stranger! I was going to Sam Yot, but 3 stops before that was Sam Yan — and, given how flustered I was, I got out there. When I realized it was a 40 or so minute walk to my AirBnb, I realized my error. Thankfully I hadn’t gotten out of the station yet.

Anyway, the AirBnb I stayed at was only $30/night, and fantastic! King bed, attached, private bathroom, 2 water bottles included a day (since you can’t drink the water in Thailand), a filter on the kitchen sink, and snacks including mini-Oreos which I had every night on my way upstairs.

Bangkok itself is incredibly frantic and frenzied. There are cars and motorbikes zooming at you from all directions, and some intersections, you just have to cross and trust they will stop and let you rather than running you over. The vibes were a bit more Delhi than London, unlike HK which was 100% London. However, I felt completely safe the entire time, even late at night when there weren’t that many people on the sidewalks. Unlike HK, most people don’t speak English, and it’s incredibly rare that anywhere (including all the tourist spots) takes credit card, so it was essential that I took out cash. Of course, there was about $9 in fees every time I took out money. I used to pride myself on playing this “Price is Right” like game of getting the right amount of cash out, but sadly, I underestimated twice and ended up using an ATM 3 times, which cost me about $27 extra. (For those of you counting, which is no one, including the 3 times I had to use my Visa, that came to about $31 in fees this trip, which I guess is lower than it could’ve been, but still those banks really do make a lot of money off people!)

The reason I was rushing to get into town was because I had scheduled a free walking tour of Old Town at 6PM. If I hadn’t wasted 45 minutes on the eVisa, I would’ve been there on time, but I was 40 minutes late because of this fiasco. However, it turned out that everyone else who was going to take the tour that night had canceled, and thanks to WhatsApp and my eSIM, I could update my guide. He was very patient, and said not to worry that it was just me. Plus, I feel like with just me, we didn’t linger because it still ended around 8PM.

First up, he took me to the 24 hour Flower District where people sold flowers and also fruit/veggies wholesale. He pointed out how cheap everything was. We passed a mango sticky rice, and he said that was a must have, so I got some, which I ended up eating after the tour (very yum). I also saw the first of about a dozen stray cats! As part of the tour, we stopped by a maka toksen massage place where they basically tap on you with a mini-hammer. It was supposed to be a 5 minute free sample, but turned in to 20 minutes, I think because I was the only one on the tour. It was actually very good for me because it targets the upper muscles, and that’s where all my tension is being a pianist, and also lugging a huge backpack from the airport. I would’ve gone back, but they closed by 8pm, and most of the other days I was doing day trips that didn’t get back in time.

We walked passed the Grand Palace and Wat Pho outsides, and then went to the Green Pier for a nighttime view of the gorgeous temple, Wat Arun, which apparently you don’t go inside of, so at least I was able to check one thing off my list that night!

And he taught me how to say hello (sawate krap) and thank you (khap khoon krap) which I drilled into my head. In Thailand, the girls say ka after everything, and the boys say krap. I asked him what the non-binary people say, and they apparently do not have that concept in their society yet…

I overtipped the guide since he had waited for me, and I was the only person on the tour, and then I ran to get the first of 6 massages I would have in Bangkok that week before collapsing of exhaustion for the night.

DAY SIX: TUESDAY, MAY 19th, BANGKOK

On Tuesday, thanks to the hour time change from HK, I woke up by 9am so I was able to head over to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho before my 1PM free Chinatown walking tour.

To enter the Grand Palace, I needed to be wearing pants, so I got these pullover elephant pants that they sell everywhere. I got them on the street from a little girl, so I paid double what they were in other areas (which I didn’t realize at the time) but it was still about $6, so I figured it was still a good deal. And now I have souvenir, comfortable pants (though sadly they don’t have pockets). I think both the Grand Palace and Wat Pho are exquisite, but words will not do them justice, so I recommend the photos!

I took many photos of the stunning architecture, murals, and the many Buddhas. In particular, Wat Pho has a giant Reclining Buddha. There was a small museum in the Grand Palace: Queen Sirikit’s Museum of Textiles, but no photos were allowed in there. I did get a really cute stuffed green elephant keychain in the gift shop! In Wat Pho, I also talked to some French tourists in French for a bit. Very nice people (from the South, not from Paris).

Oh between the 2 stops, I got a mango passionfruit smoothie in a little market by the water, and also more souvenirs including a magnet, some little cats (duh) then postcards. I also stopped by a small little place for a Thai omelette for breakfast, which was basically just an omelette over rice (for less than $2!).

After Wat Pho, I walked over to Chinatown for another free walking tour. This one had 2 other girls on it and started in the Wat Mangkon Kamalawat shrine. We walked around the area and were told historical tidbits, which I’ve since forgotten. We went down the main touristy street Song Wat on the water, and he pointed out where the street food is after 5PM every night on Yaowarat Road.

Next up, I got the best foot massage I’ve ever had from one of the best rated parlors in Bangkok, Tao Er Le. $18 for an hour, including tip!

Then, I ate soup and curry in a small Chinatown restaurant, which was clearly not designed for tourists. Even though I asked for no spicy, the curry was very spicy, and I will just say, I should not have finished it…

On my way to Rajadamnern Stadium for Muay Thai fighting, I passed Sethiwan Plaza (!) and a whole bunch of stray cats. Muay Thai was recommended to me as something to see in Thailand. It was definitely a cultural experience, though I’m not really a huge fan of violence. However, 3 out of 7 matches ended in a knockout, and the enthusiasm in the arena was contagious. Between the bouts, there was a lot of audience interaction, including a band and the camera went around to the spectators like at a baseball game. It was clearly geared towards tourists, so I’m glad I went, but it’s not something I would do again.

After the almost 4 hour show, I walked home, and promptly went to sleep after showering.

DAY SEVEN: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20th, ELEPHANTS

Wednesday was the best day of the trip by far because I got to spend it with elephants! Out of my 4 day trips in a row, this was the latest pick up time — 11am for a half day adventure — and they were so nice to actually pick me up where I was staying, unlike the next 3 days.

It was such a lovely time at the Living Green Elephant Sanctuary in Chonburi! They take care of a dozen female elephants, and one baby elephant Charlie, whom they deemed naughty. The guides there clearly love the elephants, and they are treated absolutely wonderfully. And they can’t release them into the wild because they’ve grown up being used to being fed by tourists. I believe they told us a bunch of elephant facts, but I was so distracted by the actual elephants that I don’t think I internalized that much…

The elephants were all so sweet, and their trunks came to explore the pockets of the aprons they had us wear searching for more sugar canes or bananas. (Like, maybe buy me a drink first next time?) We got many photos with them, and got to pet their trunks, and then go for a nature hike surrounded by them grazing. Finally, we got to go swimming in a pool with them, while we helped cool them off by scooping up water in buckets then flinging it onto them. What a joyous day! I cannot say enough good things about elephants!

Oh, also, they fed us unlimited Pad Thai for lunch, so that was actually all I ate that day. Upon getting back to Bangkok, it started to pour, monsoon style, but I still went out to the corner salon to get a 90 minute authentic Thai massage for only $18!

DAY EIGHT: THURSDAY, MAY 21st, RIVER KWAI/ERAWAN FALLS

Thursday was my earliest pick up time, and my furthest location. 7AM picked up at a mall that wasn’t on the subway, so I decided to use the app Grab, which is basically their Uber. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the text message to set it up with my fee-less Master Card, so this is another time I lost $1 using the Visa. However, the ride itself was only $3 for 20 minutes, which is a pretty cheap ride…

This day trip went to the River Kwai then Erawan Falls.

There was a lot of driving, so after a few hours, we stopped at a rest stop where I had delicious Fried Bananas for less than $1. Then, we went to the JEATHwar Museum in Kanchanaburi. I’m not going to lie, his open air museum was really not that exciting. We did briefly learn the history about the Death Railway which was the original purpose of the Bridge on the River Kwai set up to connect Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar). It was constructed by the nearly 60K Prisons of War captured by the Japanese during WW2. These prisoners were not treated well, and the small museum was basically a memorial for them.

After like 5 minutes there, we were offered the chance to take a boat ride to the bridge itself, and only 4/9 on the trip wanted to do it. But it was super fun, and who doesn’t love being in a little boat speeding down a river?

The Bridge on the River Kwai was… well, a bridge. I honestly conflated it with a “Bridge Over Troubled Water” but apparently they are 2 very different bridges! The bridge is also used for trains still, so when a train came, we had to move to these sections jutting out in the water as the train passed — a bit scary. We walked all the way across the bridge… then back across the bridge. There was also a little market of touristy things, but all in all, kind of underwhelming.

However, the trip got much better at Erawan Falls! After having lunch by the falls at the Baan Mook restaurant where I had a variation on chicken & cashews, we went to the falls. There are 7 levels of falls, but I didn’t make it passed the third, because I just wanted to get in. I was so lucky that this London lady and this journalist from Brazil (who had worked at CNN – basically he’s the Brazilian Anderson Cooper) didn’t mind just hanging out and watching my stuff while I went in. (I had to rent a lifejacket for less than $1, and you also had to put a small deposit when you brought in a plastic bottle, which you got back when you still had that bottle, which is why there is absolutely no litter anywhere in this park!)

I swam in and around the waterfall for almost 90 minutes, while fish were nibbling at my feet the whole time. It was magical. I went under the waterfall and screamed out everything I wanted to leave behind in the past, and it was very cleansing. I did some gratefulness chanting, and felt like a new person when they finally signaled me it was time to get out.

I was absolutely exhausted from the early pick up, and the late drop off, not to mentioning swimming, so this was the only night I didn’t get a massage. I went home, and basically collapsed.

DAY NINE: FRIDAY, MAY 22nd, KHAO YAI NATIONAL PARK

Friday my day trip conveniently left from Chinatown, only a quick 25 minute away. I had an 8am start time to go to Khao Yai National Park. It turned out that no one else had signed up for this trip, so I ended up with a private tour again (which meant I felt obligated to tip both the guide and driver).

The guide kept spouting facts; he was a very nice guy, but I was kind of relieved when he fell asleep so I could read a bit. We basically saw 2 waterfalls, and did an additional 20 minute hike through the rainforest.

It was actually quite exciting to be in a rainforest, and I saw butterflies, monkeys, including 2 really cute baby monkeys, turtles, a lot of bird varieties, squirrels, deer, and bugs. Actually, one of the monkeys came over to the eating area and stole someone’s bag filled of bananas! So, I guess that’s why they had so many “Beware of Monkeys” signs. My guide also had me get leech socks to cover up my knees. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the memo about pants til after I was in Hong Kong, and the elephant pants I had felt wrong for a rainforest since I needed them for a palace on Saturday… anyway, the point is that 2 leeches got me right in the little slit between my knee socks and shorts. Thankfully, my guy had rubbing alcohol which he sprayed till they detached, and then some aloe like formula his friend makes that soothed the bites, such that I really didn’t feel anything… Leeches are thankfully not poisonous at all, and apparently will just leave by themselves after 20 minutes if you let them just suck your blood; and it’s good he had alcohol because if you tear them while they’re eating, your skin might go with it…

Regardless, it was still a lovely trip, though, if I had to excise one of the 4 ones, this would probably be it, because nature is basically nature, and as I say in my song “I Hate Nature”… “Once you’ve seen one waterfall, it’s like you have seem them all… it’s not impressive; it’s just gravity.”

It was 3 hours or so back to Bangkok, and I was really happy to get back to town. Since I was in Chinatown, I went back to the massage place I liked, and then I got some street food on Yaowarat Road. I had absolutely delicious Thai crispy pancakes: 4 pieces for only 40 baht ($1.25!). And for the first time all week, I also got some ice cream as I walked back the half hour to my AirBnB enjoying the cool night and meeting a bunch of stray cats on the way.

DAY TEN: SATURDAY, MAY 23rd, AYUTTNAYA

I designed my day trips to kind of get used to the time zone. Starting at a night relaxing 11am, then the 7am, 8am, and finally ending with a 10am start, again in Chinatown with the same company as Friday.

The final day trip was to the ancient city of Ayuttnaya, which was the capital of Siam from 1350-1767 (when it was destroyed by the Burmese). FYI, when democracy deposed the monarchy, they renamed the country Thailand in 1939.

This day was very sunny and very hot. I used my umbrella to block the sun. (Incidentally, the only day I forgot to wear suntan lotion was Tuesday, and I got mildly burned, so I did not make that mistake again. And I also bought a small bug spray from 7/11 after the elephants on Wednesday, so I was doubly protected!)

Basically, we went to 5 historical sites in this city, the first actually being a palace still used. The palace was absolutely breathtaking, and all the architecture in the other 4 sites, which were all temples was also very cool. However, our group was really hot and a bit cranky, so I think the guide sensed that and kept things moving, especially at the final stop (where we had to pay 5 baht to use the bathroom).

The stops were Bang Pa-In Summer Palace, Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Wat Mahathat, Wat Phra Is Sanphet, and Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon. (If you haven’t figured it out yet, Wat means temple in Thai.) Thankfully only the palace required my elephant pants, and there was a $1-3 fee at each.

My guide was really sweet and knew where all the best photo ops were with the various Buddha, and she also bought us some Thai fruit to try after lunch. Oh, we had lunch in the same spot as all the other tours, so I imagine they get a kickback. It was a restaurant called Ruan Kamon, and I had a delicious curry that was still too spicy for me, but on par with NYC Thai so my body handled it much better than the one from Tuesday…

Anyway, thankfully, there was not that much traffic going back to Bangkok since it was Saturday. After I walked around the Chinatown mall for a bit, and then… you guessed it got one more massage.

DAY ELEVEN: SUNDAY, MAY 24th, BANGKOK/FLYING

Still being on a somewhat early schedule, I was able to get myself out before 9am on Sunday to head to The National Museum of Bangkok. I’m so glad that I could squeeze this museum in because it was definitely a trip highlight filled with authentic ancient artifacts. I spent almost 2 hours happily perusing these. My favorite rooms were the ones with the musical instruments for the gamelan, which also had puppets… and then there were some chess sets. There was also a cat sleeping outside! (Again, I recommend looking at the photos.)

One of the guys on my day trips mentioned thinking the Museum of Siam was cute. It was not. It was mostly for kids, and I think I could’ve completely skipped it.

Afterwards, I treated myself to my most expensive meal ($29 which is insane for Thailand!) at Tha Arun, which is a modern restaurant (established 2020) overlooking the Wat Arun, thereby bringing my entire week trip full circle.

Being a touristy place, they completely listened when I said “No Spicy” and I had the most delicious massaman curry… with lamb… which was by far the most expensive thing on the menu, but I had cash left. I got rice (always extra on the side, but only about a dollar) and a watermelon frappe. This was the most scrumptious food imaginable, and I thoroughly enjoyed my early lunch overlooking the water, but being nicely in air conditioning. Unfortunately, I had no idea that this Western style place would also have a VAT (tax) and gratuity, since I hadn’t seen either in my entire week in Bangkok… so, I miscalculated and instead of having extra cash for some more souvenirs (which I didn’t need having already gotten more than enough at this point, mostly cat stuff), I ended up having to put $1.45 on my credit card! (But thankfully, it being a modern restaurant, unlike almost every other restaurant I went to, they actually took card — I don’t know what would have happened otherwise!)

Anyway, I went to the Green Harbour one more time for the last 15 minutes of my trip before heading back to my AirBnb, who were nice enough to let me leave my bags in a storage closet after checkout. I had no issues going to the airport, and thankfully no issues getting out of the country. The flight was short and sweet. I sat next to a woman from Hong Kong whose parents were from the UK. Apparently her and her partner went to Bangkok to get some cheap doctors because the socialized medicine in HK is so bad that it worked out cheaper to take a quick flight and make a weekend of it?

Anyway, absolutely no issues getting back into HK, and no issues picking up a quick sandwich and muffins for breakfast at Mark & Spencers (reminding me of my month in London), and finally nogetting back to the same hotel I stayed in the first part of the trip… besides the fact that a huge tour group was checking in, so it took me awhile to get an elevator. It turns out that there was a woman on the tour (which came from South Korea) who was there with her mother visiting South Korea from America… and it turns out she lives in Manhattan, so I made a new friend!

(I would’ve had dinner with Kevin Sunday, but he was out of town on a work retreat for the holiday weekend and didn’t get back till Monday night.)

DAY TWELVE: MONDAY, MAY 25th, HONG KONG

I have learned over the years to have a very relaxing final day of a trip, and I succeeded. First up, I had planned to go to the post office to mail my postcards, but it turned out it was Buddha Day, which ended up being the same day as Memorial Day in the USA this year. This ended up being a boon, though, because museums in HK are open longer when it’s a public holiday! So that made my timeline very flexible and non-stressful.

After sleeping in, I took the subway over to the other side of town to go to the Nan Lian Garden, which is a beautiful, sprawling garden filled with trees, flowers, waters, and of course Buddhas. On the way, I ran into the Western Lotus Pond Garden, which is attached to Nan Lian. However, I didn’t realize it, and after I explored the whole thing kept trying to find Nan Lian. It turns out I saw the whole thing, besides the actual main entrance. There was an exhibit on ancient architecture, plus one with some very interesting rocks (that did, in fact, rock!). I sat for a bit since I was really not in a hurry and just enjoyed the views and the vibes.

My next step was Nathan Road, where I was in search of some sort of football (soccer) souvenir to pick up for my nephew since I had gotten my niece a cute turtle barrette in the rainforest gift shop (she loves turtles). Google said it was only about an hour, so I put on a podcast and walked through what was mostly a residential area. It wasn’t the most exciting walk, but it was nice out and exercise is good for you.

Nathan Road and its surrounding streets were bustling, and very NYC reminiscent. I took my time perusing as I tried to figure out where this soccer store was. At some point I realized I was hungry, so I went to find a restaurant. The first two I went to actually did not take credit cards, but I stumbled upon a sweet little lunch spot called Moomoo Shaokao, which had a lunch set menu for only $8 (USD). What great timing, as I got there at 2:21pm (according to the timestamp on the photo) and it was only till 3pm. It included 2 grilled chicken thigh skewers, 2 grilled fatty beef skewers, 1 pickled baby cabbage skewer, “Zijin” soy sauce fried rice (half portion), and honey lemony “Duck Shit” aromatic tea. (I took a photo of the menu — couldn’t make the duck shit part up!) It was really delicious, plus the restaurant had free Wi-Fi which was good because I realize I only got 5GB of data, instead of 10, and had been too lackadaisical in my use of it the last few days when I had a lot of long van rides.

Using the Wi-Fi, I realized that the store was actually in the Sino Center, which it turns out has 20 or so floors where the stores have little cubbyhole like offices. I did find both the Futbol.HK “one stop soccer shop” and Soccer Fans World… however, the first had mostly soccer equipment for kids learning to play, and the second had a lot of merchandise from European soccer (futbol) teams. What I wanted was just a little tiny pin for like $5 that said HK Football… alas, it was not to be.

However, I’m really happy that this not so wild goose chase brought me to this main thoroughfare, which might not have made my itinerary otherwise. Next, I walked down Nathan Road to the water, and just so happened to pass Kowloon Park. I went up to the park, saw the mini-sculpture walk, the tiny hedge maze, a cute fountain, and then saw signs for the free Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre which had an exhibit on the Majestic Han: A Golden Age of Vigour and Cultural Integration. Honestly, they had me at AC and free Wi-Fi! There were some really great artifacts in this exhibit, which took less than an hour to peruse.

Next up, my friend Miranda had recommended getting an egg tart at bakehouse, and it just so happened there was one between the park and the museum I was heading towards. So I stopped for a scrumptious egg tart, with a really flaky crust. Yum!

So, as I had mentioned because of Buddha Day, the museums were open longer. So instead of rushing to get to the Hong Kong Museum of Art by 6pm, I had till 9pm! (It seems I arrived at 5:09pm.) I really enjoyed this museum. They had some good paintings, including 2 Monets that were on loan from Chicago. There was a cute collection of Chinese snuff bottles another of Chinese fans, which I was a fan of! Also, at the top of the museum was a fantastic view of the water. I took that in for a bit, again enjoying AC and free Wi-Fi, and not needing to rush.

When I was done with the museum, I sat and watched a free Festival of Joy, which I think were Hare Krishna, but maybe I just thought that because of the references to them in the original Muppet movie. There was a bunch of chanting and dancing going on, and never one to pass up a free show, I lingered for a bit since it was right on the water, too.

At 8PM, there is a nightly light show, where the 20 or so buildings across the harbour light up and display various patterns with music that they play from the area around the museum. It wasn’t really that exciting, but I was happy to just enjoy the breeze from the water once the sun went down.

After that ended, I headed back to the other side of town to meet Kevin for a farewell meal back at Sister Wah, and we ended the trip with a stroll home with our sesame ice cream again, taking one final selfie at the Quarry Bay MRT station, where I have a smidge of the black sesame ice cream just under my lip.

Hopefully I will see Kevin again before another 9 years pass!

DAY THIRTEEN: TUESDAY, MAY 26th, JFK

I had a very early flight on Tuesday, but I woke up to an email that it was delayed an hour. I have rarely been happy about a delayed flight, but this was lovely since it meant I didn’t have to rush out of my hotel and hustle directly to the airport. Also, I had found out that there was a post office in the airport right before the security gates that opened at 8:30am, and I could only go because the flight got pushed to 10am from 9am! This was a happy surprise because I could mail postcards from China instead of doing it here, which feels like cheating somehow… although, apparently it takes 2-4 weeks, and none have arrived yet…

Anyway, there were no incidents getting through the airport, and the flight was fine again. Btw, Cathay Pacific is a wonderful airline to fly. The food is unbelievable, and they leave out snacks for the entire flight! And they have a massive selection of things to watch. I highly recommend them! Indeed the flight left at 10am and was back by 2pm! Only a 4 hour trip! 😉

In JFK, I just had to pose for a quick photo, and I was back in the country! I have un-fond memories of waiting for an hour or 2 to get through immigration here, so it was quite a relief that this new system is so simple. Quick AirTrain to the E train, and I was home by 4pm.

I have had massive jet lag since, but I’m sure it will resolve itself eventually. The first day I slept 15 hours, then the next night, I could barely get 5, then the next 2 I’ve been sleeping 11ish, and still waking up tired… Apparently jet lag gets harder the older you are… something to look forward to!

PODCASTS

I don’t really listen to podcasts very often, but I had to recommend one to any Sondheim fans out there!

Loving You: The Untold Sondheim Podcast is absolutely incredible. Sondheim’s first boyfriend and then assistant tells intimate details about their time together. There are also interviews with all of Steve’s friends, plus 2 songs that he wrote that no one has heard before. This is a must listen for anyone who idolizes the master!
Wiser Than Me — Apparently Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s podcast is back for season 4… and I never listened to season 3! So I better catch up! I managed to listen to Rita Moreno, Jane Curtain & Jean Smart on vacation.
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend — I feel bad that with the other 2, I haven’t listened to Conan in awhile, but I thought I’d still call him out. I hope he is doing well.

BOOKS

Here’s what I’ve read this year so far!

Put On a Happy Face — I read Charles Strouse’s memoir in preparation for the Charles Strouse Tribute cabarets, and I think it really infused the show with a lot of interesting facts about his life, directly from his own mouth (or hand?). You can actually watch the best of that show on my cabaret YouTube! YouTube.com/@sethbhdotcom
Heart the Lover — I was recommended this book by Lily King, and it was okay, but not one of my favorites.
Babel — This was a pretty good, if didactic novel by R.L. Kuang, and I’m going to read her new one soon.
Maggie; or, a man and woman walk into a bar by Katie Yee was another recommendation, and a pretty cute read.
Flesh by David Szalay was a fantastic novel about a Hungarian man who gets dealt a lot of bad hands.
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan was a wonderful read about 2 couples in Ohio whose families become intermingled.
What’s with Baum? by Woody Allen was basically a Woody Allen movie in novel form — very fast read — very enjoyable story!!
Culpability by Bruce Holsinger was an interesting concept, but felt more like a thesis than a novel.
Sweeney Todd: Beyond the Bloody Musical Masterpiece by Rick Pender was a bit redundant in parts (and also redundant!) but I learned a few new facts about Sondheim’s iconic show.
Hooked by Asako Yuzuki was a great novel by the author of “Butter” which I also really loved. It takes place in Japan and is about 2 lonely women who become frenemies for a bit.
Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami was another great Japanese novel by another of my favorite authors (of “Breasts and Eggs” and “Heaven”).
Murder Bimbo by Rebecca Novack was a really fun, short read about a sex worker turned assassin.
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico was another really sweet, very, very short read by this new Italian author about millennials trying to figure out life.
Audition by Katie Kitamura was on the list of books to read for 2025, but I have no idea why. Honestly, I didn’t really care for it, so I was happy it was short!
Making Mary Poppins by Todd James Pierce was a comprehensive accounting of the Sherman Brothers and the creation of the iconic movie.
Kafka in the Shore by Haruki Murakami was my vacation book, and it was typically Murakami: magical realism at its best!

Next up is the Times Best Seller: “The Sisters” and then the new Sondheim biography, “Art Isn’t Easy”.

MOVIES

I haven’t seen that many movies this year, but here’s what I have seen!

Nuremberg — This is such a great movie about the trials of the Nazis at Nuremberg. Highly recommended!
Tovah — My friend Tovah Feldshuh invited me to the world premiere of the new documentary about her extraordinary career!
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die — This timey wimey film was a super delight! And one of my showcase alumni was in it!
The Bride — This movie was a bit all over the place, but had some good moments.
Project Hail Mary — I didn’t really like this very popular movie. I found the math & science super lacking, and it was also quite long…
Roommates — My friend Rebecca co-stars in this Netflix comedy from Adam Sandler — super amusing movie!
Power Ballad — Penny had free passes for this movie starring Paul Rudd & Nick Jonas (who came to my cabaret once!) about 2 songwriters, one famous and one not. Very cute!

I also watched on my 32 hours on a plane:

The Fallout, Bugonia (Recommended), Sentimental Value (Recommended: basically a Scandinavian Woody Allen movie), BBC’s Wild Cherry (6 episodes), BBC’s Film Club (6 episodes), Drama High School Heroes (10 hours), Karate Kid Legends, The Royal Hotel… and also The Muppets & Anastasia so I could try to nap a bit (which barely worked because planes are super uncomfortable and the littlest noise or motion wakes me…)

TELEVISION

There was a bunch of good TV shows this spring!

Margot’s Got Money Troubles — I loved this book, and I love Apple’s adaptation starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer & Nick Offerman!
Widow’s Bay — This comedy-horror show starring Matthew Rhys (The Americans) is a hoot so far, and also a bit scary…
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins — This comedy starring Tracy Morgan & Daniel Radcliffe by the “30 Rock” team is absolutely hilarious.
The Testaments — The adaptation of the sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale” is riveting.
Daredevil Born Again — Happening just completed its second season, Daredevil is one of the most compelling shows to watch, and I can’t wait for season 3!
Rooster — Bill Lawrence’s new show starring Steve Carrell is a charming diversion.
Hacks — Now in its final season, “Hacks” is still the funniest, smartest show on TV… and in episode 4, you can see showcase alumni (& good friend) Teresa Hui have a scene with Jean Smart! I cried buckets at the finale.
The Comeback — Lisa Kudrow’s comeback has ended with a fantastic season where her character stars on a new sitcom that uses AI writers…
Memory of a Killer — This show on FOX about a hitman starting to have dementia had a slow start, but ended with a (literal) bang!
Happiness — This cute little musical show from New Zealand aired on PBS, but I think you can also find it on Amazon. 6 episodes that will bring you such joy, and indeed happiness!

THEATER

Oedipus — This Broadway transfer from London was absolutely incredible, even though most people already know the ending!
Patti LuPone at Carnegie Hall — Can’t go wrong with Patti at Carnegie!!
Just Desserts — My friend Brad’s cute new musical about a dessert competition off-Broadway.
The Monsters — Off-Broadway play at MTC about a pair of siblings.
The Reservoir — Off-Broadway play at Atlantic Theater about a guy and his grandparents.
High Spirits — Encores did a concert version of this obscure musical adaptation of Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” from the 60s.
What We Did Before Our Moth Days — My friend (and crossword puzzle book editor) Mel is the stage manager for both Wallace Shawn plays currently playing off-Broadway. This one was over 3 hours and featured 4 characters who monologued in chairs, and was spell-bounding. I went on my birthday, and Amy Schumer was there, so I talked to her at intermission for a bit!
Zach — This was an obscure play by a British playwright off-off-Broadway by the Mint Theater – it was only Broadway in the 30s, and was a really cute show.
The Wild Party — Encores did an amazing concert version of LaChiusa’s wonderful musical which I saw on Broadway in 2000 – just a marvelous production!
Cold War Choir Practice — This play with music off-Broadway at MCC was really quirky, and quite good.
Giant — John Lithgow gives an incredible performance as virulent antisemite Roald Dahl in this thrilling play, which was a bit hard to watch, but brilliantly done.
Titus Andronicus — Patrick Paige was incredible in this perfect off-Broadway revival of this obscure Shakespeare play which is reminds you a bit of “Sweeney Todd” in one part…
Spare Parts — I enjoyed this new off-Broadway play which was a bit sci-fi-esque.
Chinese Republicans — This was a great off-Broadway play at Roundabout about… you guessed it: Chinese Republicans.
Burnout Paradise — This is a performance art piece off-Broadway, which is absolutely bonkers!
Death of a Salesman — Nathan Lane & Laurie Metcalf are having career-defining turns in this captivating revival of Miller’s play.
The Lost Boys — This Broadway musical about vampires is mostly spectacle, but it was super fun, and I couldn’t help but enjoying it!
Donna McKechnie at the Laurie Beechman — The original Cassie in “A Chorus Line” sounds and looks fantastic at 83 as she tells stories from her life and sings songs she originated among others.
Chess — This Broadway revival was enjoyable and fun to watch, though the writing of the show has always been a bit of a mixed bag.
Mexodus — This off-Broadway musical is 2 men on stage creating sound loops out of instruments and ordinary objects to create the accompaniment while they tell a fascinating story of slaves who escaped to Mexico from the South in the 1800s.
Becky Shaw — This Broadway premiere at Second Stage of a play they had off-Broadway years ago was a solid production. One of the stars from “The Pitt” is in it, and I was there the night Noah Wiley went, and I got a great selfie with him! What a mensch!
The Balusters — This new David Lindsay-Abaire play at MTC on Broadway was absolutely brilliant and a clear cut example on how to write a perfect play with both humor and substance. Highly recommended!
Bigfoot the Musical — This campy MTC off-Broadway musical was very similar to “Bat Boy”…
The Outsiders — I finally saw this Broadway musical that won some Tonys last year. Incredible staging!
Schmiggadoon — I loved this adaptation of the Apple TV show featuring my friend and frequent collaboration Kimmy! So much fun, and the dancing is on fleek!
Beaches — After getting bad reviews, I had low expectations, but I thought this was a solid production, if there were some dramatic misfires. Jessica Vosk is unbelievable, and I dare anyone to not cry when she starts singing “The Wind Beneath My Wings”
Fallen Angels — This Broadway revival of Noel Coward’s comedy featuring film/tv star Rose Byrne was a fun time — I think my friend Tracee Chimo stole the show, though!
Indian Princesses — I actually had 2 cabaret alumni in this off-Broadway play at Atlantic about this program to bond girls and their fathers in 2008. It was really beautiful and charming.
The Fever — This is the other Wallace Shawn play that’s playing in repertoire with “Moth Days” and it’s Wallace on stage talking for 2 hours, and it was a wonderful show — and Mel introduced us to him afterwards, so I will be adding his autograph to my “Star Trek” wall because as I’m sure you all know, he was on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” as the Grand Nagus!
Thorton Wilder’s The Emporium — This rarely done play by the Pulitzer Prize winner was absolutely wonderful and the production superb.
Celebrity Autobiography — Comic celebrities read other celebrities’ autobiographies… it was fairly amusing.

CONCLUSIONS

I had such a wonderful trip. I think I’ve finally found the perfect balance for myself between planning and just a pinch of flexibility. This was a practically perfect vacation, and even though the jet lag has been really terrible, I have no regrets. I highly recommend both Hong Kong & Bangkok as travel destinations!

I hope you all have wonderful summers that don’t feel like bummers.

Please catch me up on your life when you get a chance!

Always,
Seth

JULY

July 8th, 2026 — A Weekend in the Country (or Upstate)

I had such a great weekend in the Hudson Valley/Berkshires for July 4th Weekend that I thought it would be a great idea to record it for posterity! Since I just emailed out a long one about Hong Kong/Bangkok only a month ago, I’m going to just do a quick recap of the trip since so many people seem to prefer short emails.

DAY 1: THURSDAY, JULY 2nd

My friend Mollie and I decided a few months ago that it would be nice to leave the hectic, hot city for the holiday weekend given how crazy it gets here. We have previously spent 3 other July 4th weekends away: Alaska in 2021, Lake George in 2023, and Michigan in 2024. This time we decided to do another upstate NY trip to the Hudson Valley since we had heard such good things about Tanglewood over the years!

On Thursday, we met at Port Authority to take the bus over to Hoboken to get our rental car. FYI, renting a car from Hoboken is about $60/day, while renting it from Manhattan itself is $150, so it’s definitely worth the $8.40 round trip to go across the tunnel — plus, where we were going, we could drive straight up through NJ and avoid the city completely.

We drove up 2.5 hours to our AirBnB, a charming little house on the outskirts of Hudson, NY. We had the whole house to ourselves, and probably could’ve had a few more people on the trip, besides the fact there was only one bathroom. I loved this little house, and our host provided everything we could possibly need including beach chairs, which we would need multiple times, a dozen eggs so we wouldn’t have to fend for breakfast… and a jigsaw puzzle!

After dropping our stuff off, we drove the 30 minutes to Lenox, MA where Tanglewood is. Tanglewood was founded in 1934 and the best known conductor was Leonard Bernstein… also Aaron Copland spent a lot of time there. It’s a huge outdoor arena with a shed, and then lawn seating for up to 10K. There’s a huge complex with a few food courts, as well.

We arrived around 6:30pm for the 8pm concert — which was a Bernstein/Sondheim concert — and so we had time to eat some food. I had a salad with brisket, very delicious. Mollie and I were chatting about which museum to go to on Friday, and I talk pretty loudly because I like to be eavesdropped on.

This older woman heard us chatting and told us that we must go to the Norman Rockwell Museum (also recommended by my showcase regular Terry) and that we didn’t have to get a ticket in advance, and it wouldn’t take us more than 90 minutes or so. We kept chatting with her and it turns out that she was in the original cast of Broadway’s “Company”. Her name is Teri Ralston, and she looked so familiar to me. And I just checked right now, and I actually played a class for her at HB Studios in 2006. So we worked together 20 years ago, and neither of us remembered! Oy! But it was really lovely to reconnect with her.

The concert was great. The first act featured the Overture to “Candide”, 3 dances from “On the Town” then a suite from “West Side Story”. I’ve heard all of these done with an orchestra before, but the Boston Symphony Orchestra is great, so it was nice to hear them again. The second act was Sondheim, and featured a few orchestral suites, plus Broadway regulars Kate Baldwin, Alysha Umpires, Jacob Keith Watson & Alton Fitzgerald White. It was a truly wonderful evening, though it started getting very windy and rainy by the end, and the sound went out — so the last 2 songs were mostly unplugged! But they kept going on!

When we got back home, I started work on the puzzle. I found that someone had left their Netflix login in the Roku, so I was able to catch up a bit on that platform watching over the course of the 4 nights: “Enola Holmes 3”, Louis C.K.’s new comedy special, “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” season 2, and “The Four Seasons” season 2. Also, during the afternoon while waiting for Mollie to get ready I put on “Degrassi: the Next Generation” on the Roku channel while puzzling.

DAY 2: FRIDAY, JULY 3rd

Friday, we started our day driving 15 minutes into the main area of Hudson itself — Warren St. We went to a few cute antique stores. Mollie and I both bought books – she got one on Jewish history, and I got one on Woody Allen about the making of “Radio Days”. We found ac utensils cafe for Mollie to get some caffeine, then we drove to Stockbridge, MA and the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Mollie decided to spend $10 extra to take a tour, but I hate tours because I prefer reading to hearing, so I skipped it. There are 2 floors to the museum. The bottom has a lot of his covers for the magazine, The Saturday Evening Post. Some couple had collected them and donated them in pristine condition. They also did a section on his Presidential portraits. The main floor had all of his most known paintings including some drawings for the book “Tom Sawyer” and his opus “The Four Freedoms” based on an FDR speech. (More on FDR in a bit!)

We ended up talking to a couple in the museum who also turned out to be visiting from Manhattan. They recommended a few other museums in the area, but sadly we didn’t really have time.

We go back to Tanglewood by 4:30PM for James Taylor that night, and used the lawn chairs from the AirBnB to stake out a spot. It was very sunny, so I took out my umbrella. We took turns getting food. I went to the other food hut this time, and got a salad that was from the salad bar without realizing I was going to be charged per ounce and not a flat fee like the day before when it was made for me. Oops! It was a very expensive salad, but at least it was super healthy.

A group of 6 people ended up infringing on our space closer to 6, but it turned out they were from Manhattan so we got to talking, and one of the couple’s sons is doing a one man show across the street from me this summer. They also knew a few people I knew as well, because the world is very tiny.

James Taylor was great! I didn’t really know that many of his songs, besides his big 5 hits which he didn’t sing till the second half. And it turns out that 2 of them were written by Carole King. As James said, this country should have “No Kings” but we can make an exception for Carole!

Apparently, James lives up in the area and does this show every July 4th, and it always sells out. It was certainly a really fun thing to do.

Sadly, as soon as the concert ended, the skies opened up and it started monsooning. And it was a super dark parking lot, so even though I knew approximately where the car was, we could not find it. And the fob seemed to only work when we were almost on top of the car, so it wasn’t very helpful. We were getting poured on, and we kept second-guessing my original estimate and branching off to other areas of the lot. I was like, “Why would anyone steal a rental car?” but eventually as the lot emptied, we went back to where I thought the car was, and lo and behold, it was the only car left in that vicinity. Drenched, we drove home in the pitch black because THERE ARE NO STREET LIGHTS in the middle of nowhere! It made me long for NJ where there are street lights everywhere.

It was a treacherous drive home with multiple trees having had fallen down into the road, but we eventually made it home to the puzzle, which I stayed up till 4am working on!

DAY 3: SATURDAY, JULY 4th

We had a late start Saturday after the crazy stress of Friday. The first stop was a little beach by a lake: Oakdale Beach. It was literally just a small strip of sand by a lake, but it was perfect. They had umbrellas we could put our chairs under, and there were a few dozen people, but it was pretty empty compared to a beach here! We went swimming in the lake, which was warm, then read on the beach. (Currently I’m in “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny” which I’m enjoying – full book reviews will return next ledger, I promise!)

There were 2 young women on the beach with NYC bags — one Trader Joe’s and one Lincoln Center Summer in the City, so I went over on our way out to ask if they were from the city. It turns out they both had lived there (one most of her life) but had relocated to the Hudson Valley during the pandemic. They both still had NYC jobs and mostly worked remotely. One works at Lincoln Center, hence the bag, and is a huge Broadway person. So we had a lovely conversation, and now I have 2 more Instagram followers! I’m fewer than 50 followers away from 6K, but it’s really annoying because it means I’m incredibly acutely aware of the count, which always vacillates. I will be really relieved when it’s a few over 6K so I can accurately say I have 6K followers, and not just be rounding up!

Anyway, we went home to change, then we were off to Catamount Resort for live music, BBQ food and fireworks. Unfortunately, a bit after we got there, it started to rain, and then it really started to pour. We left the chairs out, but went inside after getting our food — I ate a pulled pork sandwich with sweet corn and watermelon. At that point, we weren’t sure if the fireworks were going to happen, but we stayed hopeful because the iPhone said it would stop raining by the 9pm start time.

Around 8:30pm, it let up, the band resumed playing, and then we saw fireworks. They were a bit underwhelming, especially compared to NYC; however, it was so much less crowded, and the mountain view of the sunset was spectacular. It was actual hell getting out of the parking lot; unlike Tanglewood, they didn’t have a staff policing the traffic.

Incidentally, it turns out my mom’s cousin (also technically my cousin) was there. She wrote on my Facebook photo that she lives 5 minutes from the resort. So I feel kind of bad not knowing this because we could’ve had a meal with them that night!

DAY 5: SUNDAY, JULY 5th

On Sunday, we went back to Tanglewood for a 2:30PM concert. This one featured a world premiere Symphony (#15) by Philip Glass, who was in attendance. It was based on Lincoln’s speeches, which was fitting for the weekend. Then act 2 had a suite of music by John Williams from the movie “Lincoln” and Aaron Copland’s Lincoln suite with narration by Alec Baldwin (who I once held the restroom door open for at the Met Opera).

Afterwards, we went for a fancy (very expensive) Italian dinner at Frankie’s since we hadn’t actually been to a sit down restaurant all weekend. Main Street in Lenox, MA is really cute; there was a bunch of shops, sadly mostly closed on Sunday evening. After the incredible veal parmigiana (and a lot of bread since I was starving), we walked around a bit and ended up in a Judaica store where we met a woman from Long Island who moved up to the Berkshires when she got married. I ended up buying a cute little magnet of a cat with a Jewish star in its butthole…

Next up, for lack of anything going on, I suggested we go see a movie! We drove about 30 minutes since there aren’t a lot of movie theaters in the area, and ended up paying only $13 to see “Supergirl” which we both enjoyed.

I had been working really hard on getting the puzzle done, and I only had to work about another hour to put in the final piece! It was a 750 piece puzzle of Zion National Park, btw — lots of different color gradations but very few distinct features, so it was a pretty tough puzzle, I’d say. I was really relieved to have it done — and we left it for our host, who was very impressed and happy that it was completed! She might glue it and hang it on the wall!

Having the puzzle done meant I could catch up on the NYT crossword puzzles for the weekend, then read a bit before bed.

DAY 6: MONDAY, JULY 6th

We had a check-out time of 11am on Monday, which was very early for me, and a bit stressful, but we made it out in time.

We had delicious brunch in town, then drove an hour to the FDR Presidential Library & Museum in New Hyde Park. I was actually very excited to go, as this was my 4th presidential library (Jimmy Carter in Atlanta, Bill Clinton in Little Rock, & Gerald Ford in Grand Rapids). Incidentally, the FDR one is the first Presidential Library and Museum to be created, and was completely his idea to create one. (I googled it and there seem to be 14 open now, including the new Obama one. However, I don’t really have any interest in going to a few for obvious reasons.)

This was really great museum, and we spent 2 full hours there. They had 5-7 minute videos throughout the rooms, and it was clearly organized in chronological order with arrows pointing the way forward. I’m pretty good with my WW2 history, but it was a nice refresher. I knew FDR had a battle with polio and was in a wheelchair, but didn’t realize he had a 17 year recovery where he persevered and came back into the public eye.

He really saved the country from the Great Depression, and knew how to play the political game and how to inspire the public. The safety nets for retirement, employment and bank regulations that he set in place in the 1930s are still what holds this country together today. Of course, he wasn’t always super popular and had his detractors as some political cartoons on display showed. His vote share and electoral votes went down each election – having one all but Maine the first time, then all but Maine and Vermont the second time… however, by today’s standards he won in a landslide 4 times. Shortly after his death, the country thankfully passed the constitutional amendment limiting all Presidents to only two terms.

Around the museum, they had a few stations where they recreated houses of the times with radios, and they had buttons that you could push to play some of his actual Fireside Chats, which I think is a big reason he maintained his popularity since there wasn’t any TV to watch in those days!

Sadly this country was very antisemitic and xenophobic in the 30s, so FDR had to wait till he got re-elected for a 3rd term before he could let more Jews into the country, even though they knew what was going on in Europe. On computer screens, you could go more in depth into various topics, and obviously, I read everything in the one about Jews. There was a smear campaign against the President saying that he had too many Jews in his cabinet… proclaiming that Jews were Communists and going to ruin the country. I find it ironic that today, the DSA is now the unabashedly antisemitic party, refusing to support Jews who won’t kowtow to their biased views. It seems Jews can never really win, in any way, shape, or form, at any time of history.

Anyway, they also had the room that FDR used as an office when he was living or visiting in New Hyde Park preserved, and also had his actual Presidential desk with all the myriad of things on it displayed.

My only qualm with the museum is that FDR died in his 4th term before the war was over. The museum cuts right to his death without mentioning Truman at all — or how the war ended… or who won the war! I was thinking that young kids with their brains destroyed by AI and social media might have absolutely no clue what happened. It could’ve used a quick placard just to end the plot!

They also had a great room on Eleanor Roosevelt “The First Lady of the World”, whom as most of you should know, gave my grandmother some toothpaste and a mini toothbrush at the refugee camp in Germany after she was liberated from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.

Anyway, ater the library, we drove back for 2 hours to Hoboken in the pouring rain which was flooding the highway. GoogleMaps was kind enough to let us know the road ahead was flooded, but I was like “No shit, Google!” because I have eyes. It was a bit stressful and slow going, but eventually we got the car back with time to spare (Avis closes at 7pm, the one detriment to renting from there) and got on the bus back to the city.

Even though it was raining, since I didn’t have any fresh food left in my apartment, I went out (and got soaked) to our brand new Aldi. I AM SO HAPPY THAT WE HAVE AN ALDI NOW!!! It is SO CHEAP. It has changed my life!

CONCLUSIONS

As you can tell from this very, very short email, this was such a wonderful weekend adventure. I highly recommend this destination for a summertime trip that is very close to the city.

A big thank you to Mollie for coming with me!

I hope YOU are having an amazing summer; please respond to let me know what your vacation plans are!

Always,
Seth